Leeds and Kirkstall Abbey

I mostly went to Leeds as a convenient base for exploring the area. I was interested in the Royal Armories, though. There were walls and walls of arms from across the centuries. I particularly enjoyed (you guessed it) the Saxon and Medieval periods. Some of the displays were just behind cases, but others gave more context by letting you get a sense of the weapons' weight and how that affected how they were used. Also, there was a section on international arms and armor that had an amazing set of elephant armor:

I didn't see much more of Leeds itself, other than what I saw in my walks between the railstation, the museum, the delicious Indian feast at Akbar's restaurant, and my couchsurf host's place near the University of Leeds. 

My host was a Belgian student at the University, and he was in a cool house of international students. We discussed philosophy and mathematics a bit, and he recommended Kirkstall Abbey, which I would never have heard of otherwise. The ruins were closed that day, but the view from outside the gates was still quite picturesque. 

After seeing the abbey I visited the Leeds Art Gallery, which is connected to the Henry Moore Institute, a converted house that also had some interesting works. Over the course of this Britain trip I have developed an interest in the architecture of buildings that have been converted to a different use, and liked the slanting walkway from one building's top floor to the other's. As usual, I was rushing the light and quickly moved on to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, which (amusingly, unlike the Henry Moore Institute) contains many works by the sculptor Henry Moore.